April 13, 2005

From Page Six:Kathleen Turner, who is knocking them dead on Broadway as dipsomaniacal Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," gave an eerily similar high-spirited performance on Monday as co-host of the American Theater Wing tribute to Viacom co-CEO/CBS chairman Les Moonves.

"When Turner arrived at Cipriani 42nd Street and did a photo op with Jessica Lange and Billy Crystal, she was already exuberant," laughed one guest.

Organizers took Turner outside for some air and tall glasses of water before she took the stage. Then, co-host Richard Thomas had to steady her as she growled and hissed her way through the program. "She almost licked his face," said one witness. A tablemate exclaimed to legendary designer Donald Brooks: "My God, she's seducing him." At one point, when her script referred to Moonves' dedication to the arts, Turner ad-libbed, "Maybe he's just in it for the money." The flippant gibe drew a dead silence.